Taught by Thirst
by Salmon Center
Summary: Sequel to When it Rains in Omega, Five years later and Omega still has a lot to teach Millie Shepard. Whether she wants to learn or not. Femshep/Garrus friendship [considered pre-romance]
1. Light the Lamps

Hello everyone!

I had some fears that this wouldn't be posted on time, but here is. Just to warn you that the update will be a bit sporadic. The whole thing isn't outline yet so, you may have to wait a while again. But I did want this up to set your minds at ease. Also, I don't want it to clash with Legacy of One.

Just so everyone knows, this is the** Sequel to When it Rains in Omega**- you'll need to read that first or else this story won't make sense to you. It's also still general, so you can read it as a non-romance fic. However, you can also read this as a pre-romance (and it is intended as a pre-romance, this time I am sure). This _also a more mature story- and definitely won't have the same hearts and stars like the other story._ Although, Millie and her humor makes things better.

**Warning**: Cussing, violence, blood, mentions of sexual activity, betrayal, no clear update schedule

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, the picture for this story, and the characters from the Mass Effect Universe (except for the occasional OC). No profit is being made from this fanfiction.

Many thanks to Elantil for beta-ing and encouraging me in all my writing endeavors.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Prelude: Light the Lamps**

An important guest was coming to Eden Blue today. But no one knew that yet.

Nalah Butler woke up with a start, thirty minutes before her alarm would go off. Rubbing her face with her hands, she began her day as she usual—poking her husband awake, taking her shower, then made breakfast for her family. Her son bounded down the stairs, rushing to put on his jacket. Her husband followed behind in a more sedate pace, hair combed twice but still sticking out in several places—armor half unlocked as he took a sip of his lukewarm coffee.

"Should I bother to ask what time you came in last night," She poured him a warmer cup when he finished his first one. He chewed on some bread, staring somewhere far away. "Or if you slept well?"

Fredric Butler looked at back her with hazy eyes—opening his mouth to reply, he turned to his son as Garret poured himself a cup of milk and, instead of speaking, he shook his head.

Nalah sighed. "You better go then. They're waiting for you."

Butler kissed his wife on the brow and hugged his son tightly before he left, fully armed and a messenger bag slung on his shoulder. Nalah cleared away the leftovers and the dirty dishes before the home tutor arrived for her son, a bright asari that Garret led upstairs with a smile.

When her workers came in, tying their aprons on and wiping the counters, she flipped the switch to signal that her café was now open and ready to take orders, even though she knew business would be slow again today, as it had been for two weeks now. She turned up the jazz music playing through the speakers and turned back to her counter.

Nalah Butler was tempted to close Eden Blue early—a handful of regulars trickled in but she could always wait out those few to finish, close for a couple of hours, and then reopen at around lunchtime when they came back.

When the place became empty as she predicted, she sent her workers to the kitchen, turning up the music even louder, she drew the red curtains close on the west side windows and sighed. A low saxophone made it's intro, melting the café into a dream.

Monteague, her husband's best friend, loved this song.

The bell on her door rang, Nalah had a hand over her sidearm until she noted it was woman with a duffel bag over her shoulder and dark hair with red highlights styled with a pixie cut.

"Welcome." Nalah smiled as she sped back behind the counter, the customer took her seat on one of the stools near the register. She blushed as the young woman smiled back, wide and full of straight white teeth behind pink lips. She was probably the prettiest thing Nalah had seen since Omega returned to becoming a complete warzone. The stranger's small face glowed with that unabashed smile. She had a pair of almond shaped blue-silver eyes that were framed by thick dark lashes and a small but sharp nose. Her armor was light, dark grey and streaks of red the shade of blood, framing a slender and lithe body. Two heavy pistols lay sleeping against her back, snug inside a pair of holsters.

"Something wrong?" The woman asked as she was removing her gloves. Her voice was sultry and deep. It caused Nalah's heart to race before she laughed.

"I'm sorry. I just—I was surprised for a moment there! Are you—sightseeing?" The younger woman blinked at her and Nalah laughed again. "That might not be the right word but you look—"

"Shiny and new?" She supplied, the corner of her lip lifted up in perfect symmetry with the playful sparkle of her eyes.

"Yes, precisely! Oh—how rude. I haven't gotten your order."

She shook her head, her smile still in place. "Of course. Just brewed coffee—black."

"Right away." She put the saucer and the mug down before pouring the coffee. The younger woman smiled as she said her thanks, took a sip and closed her eyes. "What brings a tourist like you to this part of the galaxy?"

"Ah, I'm with a friend. We're on a little vacation, so to speak." She smiled down as she swirled the contents of her drink. The steam wafted into the air and then dispersed—she sighed, enjoying the smell as well as the taste. "Then I thought—I may as well visit a few good friends. I haven't talked to any of them for over a year now. I felt a little guilty."

"Oh. This is awful timing though." Nalah frowned, pouring another cup—she waved her hand as the girl looked at her curiously. "On the house, no extra charge."

"Thanks." She chuckled. "I heard a few things on my way here but I didn't want to turn back. Maybe you can fill me in on more details, ma'am?"

Nalah put the pot down and leaned against the countertop. She held back the sigh that nearly escaped her. "It's been this way for nearly a year now—eight months to be more precise— I'm afraid. Right when we were on the verge of some true peace. You heard of Archangel, right?"

A nod. "Yeah."

"Well, about five years ago they were a group of 12 and now they're seven times that size and still growing. After teaming up with the Talons—you've heard of them?" Another nod. "Good. Well, they've been a driving force for change in Omega—they've conquered Blood Pack and Eclipse territory already and govern almost 40% of the turf here."

"I doubt the queen liked that." She took a sip when Nalah shook her head.

"Not at all. Fights were kept down but the tension was thick in the air. People were divided between the Convocation—yeah I know, the name is a bit of a laugh amongst the humans but it suited the Archangel and Talon alliance—and Aria's people. A little less than a year ago, Aria was finally going to co-operate and there was going to be some real change but—" Nalah bit her lip, almost drawing blood. Everything had changed then, exploded in their faces like smoke after a magic trick. Now, her husband had this dead look in his eyes—barely any appetite or sleep, maybe not even dreams. But who could blame him?

"What happened?" Her customer whispered.

"Archangel was betrayed by one of the original twelve—Lantar Sidonis. He'd been making deals with Blue Suns and then chose that moment, that fateful day when everything was going right for once—"

"So, T'Loak pounced on it?"

"Everyone in Omega, even the ordinary residents, know that only the strong survive here. Aria had all the eyes of Omega on her—the deal was supposed to go on live broadcast and there wasn't a single household that wasn't either watching the exchange or present at location. She turned around—made the Convocation look weak and then—" Nalah held back the sob. "My husband and I lost so many good friends that day." She let a single tear fall before she shook her head, one hand on her mouth. "I'm sorry. It's been—very hard since then."

The woman reached out, her hand was big and had such slender fingers. Nalah noted how thick and rough the calluses were on the surface of her skin before she felt the warmth underneath them. "Oh, Nalah—I'm so sorry."

Nalah froze. "How—How did you know my—" She returned the stranger's gentle touch with a vice grip, pulling herself up and closer to the woman. She stared into her eyes before her face wrinkled up and the tears fell. "Millie."

Shepard stood as Nalah went around the bar and gave her a hug, sobbing on the girl's shoulder. Millie's chuckle rumbled her frame as she returned the hug. "Hi, Nalah."

"God, you came back." Nalah wiped away the tears as she pulled away—studying Millie Shepard's face with new interest. "You've become so beautiful and—so mature."

The young woman sighed, cracking a smile. "Really? I was kind of getting tired of acting the part. Fuck," She stuck her tongue out and pushed the empty coffee cup with the flick of her finger. "Black coffee tastes like the rough side of an elcor's ass—not that I'd know what that really tasted like, but you get what I mean."

"Oh, Millie." Nalah laughed and cried all at once as she hugged her again. "You're such a lovable idiot. Where have you been? Why haven't you been mailing us? The boss—" She snapped up and pulled away again. "Oh god, the boss would want to see you! He's been acting like a lovesick girl since you stopped mailing so regularly and then with everything that's happened—"

Shepard put her hand up. "Now, isn't the time to meet Garrus but I will. Of _course_, I will." Resting her hands on Nalah's shoulder, she brought their faces closer. "But right now, I've only got bits and pieces of what's happening—tell me everything you know."

* * *

Five years was a damn long time. The galaxy was changing, humans were racing up the galactic ladder— they were everywhere now—Ilium, C-Sec, freaking Thessia. There were two human Spectres a Williams and a Leng or something. At the moment, Udina hadn't died yet so he was Councillor, but Shepard held on to her mother's pendant and asked whatever powers existed in the galaxy to just smite him.

Five years. Five names.

Krul. Monteague. Ripper. Vortash. Mierin.

Shepard smoked five cigarettes for each one of them. She'd been clean for six months but, damn she really needed it now—she had Nalah to thank for asking her workers if they had some they could spare. She leaned against the window of Eden Blue, the red curtain still drawn behind her. She could hear gunfire coming from the west side, not far from where she stood. A mix of stale air and sulfur had blended into the wind while she wasn't in Omega.

Frankly, she preferred the stench of vorcha shit. She hid the smell of change with the smell of menthol and smoke.

This was supposed to be a vacation. Jesus.

"Fuck, kid. I thought you were off that stuff." Jack, her instructor and friend, walked up beside her, a bag of groceries hanging against her grip and a Carnifex in the other hand. Her ponytail swishing from side to side even as her Mohawk stood perfectly still.

Jack wasn't as properly clothed as a biotic instructor should be—what with only a white top that covered her breasts but not the map of tattoos that covered every inch of her skin. She had a studded leather jacket on and a pair of baggy cargos but she was far from respectable. Then again, it had been worse years back when all that was covering her tits were her tattoos.

The important thing to know, however, was that Shepard loved her bitchy, biotic instructor.

Trailing behind Jack was her pet varren, Eezo and Shepard's _Kendra_, Count—more fur and less scales with three tails— who bounded up to her side, nuzzling his nose on her knee.

"Remember how Omega fell off the radar at the beginning of the year, G-standard?" She crushed the dying light of the final cigarette under her boot. She smiled down at Count and gave him a quick pet and he yipped—his fox face lifted, he moved behind her and weaved himself between and around her legs.

"Yeah. Council couldn't even get a proper story out of the locals because they were being such pussies. Then, before they could send our kind in, they decided to fall back until the air got better."

Shepard nodded. "Well, there was an uprising—a power vacuum, of sorts, when the Convocation—yeah, I know, the name makes me want to shoot myself too— and Aria were supposed to make nice." She closed her eyes. "Friends, people I knew, died."

"Fuck."

"Gets better." She threw Jack her last cigarette and her lighter. "They were betrayed by another friend. Lantar Sidonis. Gave them up to Aria T'Loak during the most crucial moment and they got trampled on. Until a couple of months ago, it was Martial Law—as much as it could be in a place without law, anyway."

Jack threw her the grocery bag before she lit a cigarette, hand over the fire as the wind got stronger, as did the sound of distant gunfire.

The lighter shut with a click and glinted against the street lights when Jack threw it back and Shepard caught it just as easy. "You know, the Alliance is probably gonna be looking for us now—going AWOL and all. We can't stay here for long."

Shepard rolled her eyes, leaning against the café and crossing her arms. Count sat obediently beside her. "It's not like they trust us to ever report for leave. They ought to know better."

Jack took one long drag and blew the smoke between them. Eezo moved in front of her and nudged Count with his nose before he sat too. "Which is why we don't have any hounds on our asses now, kiddo. But who knows how long they're gonna be patient."

"I know we only booked a room for a couple of days but—fuck, Jack, I can't just leave."

Jack finished the last of her cigarette. Smoke lifted and curled from the lips of her crooked smile "Well, we did raise hell for those four or five months, didn't we? What's another month, right?"

Shepard laughed. If her hands were free, she would have hugged Jack (whether or not her instructor would have hit her for it—the pain was worth it). "Let's drop this off and get some rest." She lifted the bag up to her wrist and led the way. "We have a lot of doorbells to ring."


	2. Living the Dream

Important: Going to be focusing on Legacy of One so most likely Taught by Thirst will get updated every two or three weeks for a while. Legacy of One is going through a full clean-up/rewrite and that story has a bazillion chapters so it's really going to affect the speed of my other stories. Just a heads up to everyone. _Thank you for your patience and understanding_.

Enjoy the chapter! Thank Elantil for

"… I wish to be Providence myself, for I feel that the most beautiful, noblest, most sublime thing in the world, is to recompense and punish." – Alexander Dumas, _The Count of Monte Cristo_

**Chapter 1: Living the Dream**

Garrus dreamt of that day every night.

He remembered Mierin had been in Vortash's arms, locked in an embrace near the door to the arena. Ripper had been rechecking his rifle, and Montaegue and Butler were laughing in the corner. Sensat, blue skin and white facial marks. gave him a wide smile and a wave while she talked to a few of Talon's guys with Krul, their bomb specialist. Their group was chatting about the new rifle that came out in the market two weeks ago and Krul was going over what he done to improve it.

Almost five years of toil. He never thought Archangel would expand to this size and demand this much responsibility. But he felt something in his chest swell as he inhaled, holstering his rifle and watching his team smile and laugh. He brought up his omni-tool, checking his mail, frowning at the display. "No new messages" flashed at him.

"The kid hasn't mailed you, huh?" Titania's hand was heavy against his shoulder before she shoved him forward. He glared at her, albeit a little playfully, which she caught on and laughed. "Smile, Vakarian. Today is a good day."

"I was thinking of sending her a message." He looked at the typing interface and frowned.

"Oh? What happened to holding on to your pride and waiting for her to say something?"

"Hey, you said today was a good day." He typed and then erased, and then typed again and erased it. "I want the kid to know. And that Nalah has been fretting about it every day. Maybe schedule a visit."

"The kid is an Alliance reg now, right? Won't she be too busy?"

Garrus grunted. "An NCO."

Titania laughed. "That's your denial talking. You can't be first lieutenant and not be considered for full on Officer training."

He waved off her comment. "Details. She still needed a retainer."

"But now she doesn't have one, right?" She shook her head at him. "She has a superior officer but she practically ignores him— that girl has spunk, let me just say."

He looked away from his holo. "Why do you know so much?"

"Please, when we broke up and Melanis joined the Talons we've been talking." She hummed. "She's not so bad when she isn't thinking up ways to kill me."

"Which is what I told you."

"Well," She fixed a gaze at him—startling in its intensity. "We were fighting over something important."

He tilted his head. "Really?"

She huffed, scratching the back of her neck. Her grumble had tones of embarrassment laced in it. "And this is why we broke up—how can you always be so dense all the time?"

"As far as I know: we broke up because you said you wanted to break up." He shrugged.

She growled, mandible open to fight back but the doors opened and Nyreen Kandros walked in, followed by several of the other Talons. She nodded at Garrus and put a hand on Titania's shoulder. "I hope your argument isn't going to escalate like your last one? We still have some of the recruits running away at the sight of both of you together."

Titania huffed, crossing her arms and Garrus chuckled. Nyreen Kandros—the woman was impeccable. He had his doubts about her character and he knew from Sidonis that he had his own judgments about her—but despite being former black-ops for the Hierarchy and biotic, she had conducted herself with as much integrity and honor as he expected of himself—maybe even more.

Garrus should have known then, perhaps even before that, that what happened wasn't so much fate or destiny—just inevitability, because he put his trust and his doubts on the wrong people. But he didn't know then, because it was going to be a good day—the best day as the original Archangel and Talons stepped into the Arena, Aria was there with her own lieutenants. The cameras were all on them now as they stepped into the platforms, screens from every angle appeared everywhere. Behind him, he heard Ripper hiss a curse and he kept his trigger finger on his rifle. On the stands, Omega's residents and minor and major merc gangs were spectating.

Normally, Garrus would have felt the pressure of all their eyes but this time he didn't. It was the culmination of all their—Archangel and Talon's— labor. He took back what the merc gangs have stolen from the people here, what Aria had tricked them into thinking was just the way things were—now, he was more than just a step closer—he had crossed a whole road closer to his vision.

Aria T'Loak's forces were down to a few powerful but small gangs. Nothing the combined forces couldn't fight back. Although Aria still controlled the business and trade side of Omega, signing the contract to end their feud and finally establish real order rather than giving the throne to the strongest was the best option to put their stalemate to an end.

The plan was to split the power between four people—himself, T'Loak, her batarian lieutenant who went by the name Rev, and Nyreen. The Codex of Rules and Conduct had already been ironed out and a system of passing on leadership was given to whoever earned it. Now, a lax hand wouldn't be given to the merc gangs who abused their positions and people weren't going to be kept alive because of their entertainment value. Omega was on its ways to becoming a place where people can build lives and homes.

The signing was beginning, the collective breath of everyone present and spectating at home were held. Kandros was signing the contract first, then Rev, Aria herself, and him last. As Kandros opened up the holo to add her fingerprint to make it contractually binding, Garrus held his breathe with the rest of the crowd—

And kept it held when he felt the nozzle of a rifle against the back of his head, the safety latched clicked off.

That day was supposed to be a good day, instead, he felt the quivering of someone holding a rifle to his head— Ripper' string of curses as he mumbled: "I'm sorry, boss. But my family, shit. _Shit_. Fuck-fuck-fuck."

Several shots rang out behind him, and a body fell next to him with a thud.

Krul's blood was green, crawling its way to him before bumping against his boot. A shot rang closer to him and Ripper's beloved rifle fell on to the floor. Ripper followed soon after, landing on his knees before he slumped down dead. On the back of Garrus's neck, something warm slid down his cowl and into his armor. He reached for his own gun as turned around, his sidearm fell as a blow to the shoulder rang in his ears and his shields went down from the sniper's bullet. A vorcha stood close, ready with his flamethrower and he aimed it Garrus—

Everything burned.

Montaegue from the side, a savage scream on his throat, rammed into the vorcha and emptied his clip on the merc. "Protect the boss! Get out of here, _now_!"

He heard more bodies fall but he failed to comprehend when he heard screams, orders being said, hands on his arms that dragged and begged him to move. But the pain seared itself through his skin, and he held back a scream as Mierin held his burned wrist.

The last thing he saw before the doors to arena closed was Lantar Sidonis standing over Montaegue's body, a foot on the man's corpse as he stared back at Garrus.

Today— that day— was supposed to be a good day.

Why? Why did it happen?

He reached for his assault rifle, clutched it between his hands. Never mind that he had to fight not to black out. Nevermind that his right eye had been melted shut. His visor illuminated his face like a vicious, flickering blue fire as it overclocked itself from the sustained damage. Somebody in that other room had to die, had to pay for this.

"Boss!" Mierin pulled him back by the uninjured shoulder. "You can't go back in there! There's too many of them! The west door might open too."

"Fall back, Vakarian!" He heard Kandros' order but he didn't care. He needed to open that door—

"Mei!"

Vortash stood in front of them, between the bullets, his shield torn to shreds. Garrus couldn't count the guns, only saw the flashes as Mei screamed— falling to kneel beside Vortash's body before she pulled out a gun too and shot one man down while his line of men reloaded.

Garrus aimed but was pulled aside by Kandros at the same time he saw Mierin's head get blown. Kandros threw a Lift Grenade and pulled up a barrier before it exploded, sending the mercs flying against the walls, cracking skulls, and burning through armor.

Now they were on the run, slipping into tunnels and leaving neutral territory. In the base, everything was finally revealed when one of the recruits showed a recording of the aftermath.

He saw Ripper's and Montague's body being piled atop all the other Talon and merc corpses. Saw the trail of green Krul's left behind as they let him be dragged and torn by the varren. He heard the laughter as a Blue Sun Merc put a headless Mei on top a bloodless Vortash in a mocking embrace. Aria put her hands up, signalling the people to be calm as the Blue Suns leader, Tarak and Lantar Sidonis stood behind her.

Sidonis— his right hand man, his confidante, his friend.

"Citizens of Omega, it is an insult to all of us that weaklings even attempted to rule you, to _tame _you. You have seen for yourself that the Convocation do not know you the same way I do, they cannot protect you." She smiled. "But I can."

"So, who will you rally behind? Who will you depend on? _Choose_, Omega. And choose wisely." She signaled for her men to start filing out. "Because it will cost you your life."

* * *

Every night Garrus had seen the same dream.

Every night Garrus woke up, screaming.

Garrus saw the darkest days of his life since then.

The power vacuum attempted to swallow them: territories fell, people were bribed and conquered, men either left Omega in droves or rallied behind T'Loak's banner. Only the most loyal remained but even the most loyal felt that they were better off dead. Garrus had killed more people in a month than he did in three years: some of them people he knew as men of his Archangel team and other Talons. Most were Aria loyalists, however, and he took immense pleasure by taking them out.

For a long time it was only getting worse. On the Talon's end it wasn't much better and Kandros was burning out: brighter and more stunning than before but how long would that last until Aria finally had her hands around all their necks?

Steadily, things got better and the powers balanced themselves. T'Loak may have had more people but the loyal who stayed with the Convocation were fierce and die-hard. They retained enough land to be a threat and enough people to protect that land. People who believed in their fight held strong— even when all around them people ran to the other camp, begging for their lives. Fights broke out between turfs and they were back to their stalemate with the only difference being more bloodshed— anyone who was even suspected of supporting one camp over the other had a target on their head. Economy slowed down till a near halt until No Man's Land was established in Tuhi but even then there was more looting, larceny, and death than Garrus ever wanted. Things outside Omega dimmed—as far as anyone knew this was all the galaxy comprised of.

What was left of the original Archangel, his lieutenants, were a show of great courage. They remained strong in the fight by fighting harder. But away from all the men, away from prying eyes they were haunted by the same ghosts. Melanis and Weaver took to the training hall a lot more, Sensat and Grundan talked about upcoming missions in great detail. The worst of them was Erash, who had become more neurotic and more paranoid of every recruit, burning through psychological examinations, background checks— and even more background checks atop that. Butler had not spoken since the day he saw his best friend die.

As for Garrus, he woke up every day to look himself in the mirror. The fire had taken half his face, had seared his old armor into his right shoulder and arm. Solus, had done all he could. He managed to save Garrus's eye and his eyesight. He might have lost his shooting arm too but Solus had repaired the nerve and muscle damage, replacing it with a bone weave that might have been even stronger and more efficient than his real arm.

He looked at himself and went about the rest of the day with just one rule: How will this bring me closer to killing Lantar Sidonis?

* * *

"Boss," Erash nodded, his four eyes blinked at the same time as he turned back to the plethora of feeds he had before him. "Good, you're here."

Garrus squashed his impatience and his complaints. Erash didn't explain whether this was important to the goals of the day, whether this was about recruitment or Sidonis or anything. All he said was that it was important and that he should make the time.

"The feeds in the borders of Tuhi caught some people."

"Near Eden Blue?" Garrus looked at the frozen screen. Of course he cared about Nalah but it didn't look like any attacks were happening so why was he called here? "What about it? They look like tourists to me."

"One of them isn't. Look," He tapped his screen with a long finger nail. Spirits, someone should tell Erash to keep up with the standards of grooming. Even the room was starting to smell like mold and stale air. Erash, unbeknownst to Garrus's thoughts, activated his omni-tool and let the video play.

Two women stood beside each other, one of them covered in tattoos and smoking. The other holding a bag of groceries— by them were pets, a varren and a _Kendra_. The one holding a grocery bag turned around and began to walk. She looked up, directly at the hidden camera and mouthed something as she stared up with a smile—

"Hi, cranky." Erash said as he paused the video. "Only residents could possibly get familiar with cameras around this place— especially the ones near Eden Blue. And she called me _cranky_. I've played this video 1,367 times to read what she said and I am sure that is what she said."

Garrus looked at his hacker impassively. "I don't see your point, Erash."

Erash sighed, in the same manner he used to before— before that day— like he was surrounded by idiots that couldn't possibly understand the intricacies of his work. "That same pair was sighted near Forlorn— the battle pit at the east end of Tuhi— an hour ago. Today, Aria had reserved a fight for her men's entertainment." He brought up the feed of entrance of Forlon, the krogan guard stopping them as they cut in line until a batarian ran out and hit the krogan over the head and let them pass. "They got in with barely any trouble. They're important to Aria. And if they're important to Aria..."

_They're worth killing, _Garrus supplied mentally. He felt the tremors of excitement to the tips of his talons at the thought of moving closer to Aria, and in effect, moving closer to killing Sidonis.

Garrus turned away from the screen, making his way out of the surveillance room. "Tell Sensat to gear up. And Kandros to bring some people along. We're leaving in ten."


End file.
